In the southern part of Wu Mountain, inside the Jade Mountain Marketplace, three hundred miles away from the Cyan Valley Marketplace.
Lu Yan walked out of a shop, having exchanged all the magical artifacts, elixirs, Spirit Talismans, and Spiritual Materials he obtained from the storage pouches of seven Loose Cultivators into Spirit Stones.
Including the Spirit Stones originally in his storage pouch, the total wealth of two Late Stage and five Mid-Stage Qi Cultivators amounted to as many as one thousand one hundred Spirit Stones, filling more than half of a Low-level Storage Pouch.
It’s important to know that ordinary Qi Cultivators, if they lack a special skill, can only gather Spirit Medicine or hunt demon beasts in the mountains, bearing risks while spending most of their earnings on Life-Saving Talismans and daily cultivation.
Even when one’s cultivation reaches the Late Stage of Qi Cultivation, they might not have many Spirit Stones left.
Being able to gather one thousand one hundred Spirit Stones from seven cultivators shows how wealthy these cultivators, who lived by plundering, were.
Considering these seven cultivators likely had some reputation in the Cyan Valley Marketplace, someone might recognize the magical artifacts they used, so Lu Yan chose to detour to the Jade Mountain Marketplace to sell those items.
Although he was squeezed on the price a bit in the process, Lu Yan didn’t mind too much since it was essentially free money, and he was too lazy to worry about the minor details.
"No wonder protagonists in those novels love fishing enforcement so much. Not only is there no psychological burden in killing these plundering Loose Cultivators, but their wealth is also extraordinary.
The only concern is the strength issue; fishing enforcement shouldn’t be dragged down by the fish."
Reflecting on this, Lu Yan headed towards a Pill Workshop within the marketplace.
The Pill Workshop wasn’t crowded; elixirs are considered luxury items for most Loose Cultivators.
Even if bottom-tier Loose Cultivators buy elixirs, they are mostly low-level ones for healing injuries and recovering Magical Power, not genuine Spirit Pills.
As soon as Lu Yan entered, a clerk from the Pill Workshop, who had a cultivation level of the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation, even higher than Lu Yan, greeted him.
Despite Lu Yan’s lower cultivation level, the clerk did not show any contempt and seriously asked:
"What would the customer like to buy?"
Lu Yan looked around his surroundings, an indistinct exotic fragrance filled the Pill Workshop, giving one a mentally pleasing sensation.
"Are there any elixirs that can increase cultivation speed or assist in breaking through realms?"
"May I ask, is the customer buying for oneself, or for someone else?"
"What’s the difference here?" Lu Yan curiously asked.
"Elixirs suitable for different cultivation levels are different."
The clerk took out three jade bottles from behind the counter.
"We have three types of elixirs suitable for you here: Qi Gathering Powder, Jade Spirit Pill, and Spirit-Storage Pill."
"Qi Gathering Powder is unranked, suitable for consumption by those in the early stage of Qi Cultivation.
Jade Spirit Pill is a first-grade low quality Spirit Pill, suitable for mid-stage Qi Cultivation; it can increase the speed of Magical Power refinement. Although early-stage can also consume it, much of the potency will be wasted.
Lastly, the Spirit-Storage Pill is a first-grade high quality Spirit Pill with the ability to assist in breaking through realms, but it can only be used by cultivators below the late stage of Qi Cultivation, and naturally, it is the most expensive."
As he spoke, the clerk displayed the elixirs from the jade bottles for Lu Yan to inspect.
Jade Spirit Pill, true to its name, was completely round and emerald green, like jade stone.
With just one look, Lu Yan recognized it as the same elixir he consumed in the Apocalypse Version.
Three Jade Spirit Pills, combined with the Spiritual Qi from the Apocalypse Version, allowed him to successfully break from the first layer of Qi Cultivation to the fourth layer.
The only thing that puzzled Lu Yan was that when he consumed the Jade Spirit Pill at the first layer of Qi Cultivation, he did not notice any indication of wasted medicinal power.
"Could it be related to my absorption of Moonlight Spiritual Qi?"
Without delving further, Lu Yan directly asked:
"What are the prices for the Jade Spirit Pill and the Spirit-Storage Pill?"
Seeing that Lu Yan had the intent to purchase, the clerk smiled and replied:
"The Jade Spirit Pill is priced at seven Spirit Stones, while the Spirit-Storage Pill as a Realm-Breaking Elixir is priced at one hundred and eighty Spirit Stones."
Lu Yan clicked his tongue.
The Jade Spirit Pill aside, it was just an auxiliary cultivation elixir yet costs seven Spirit Stones each.
Despite the impressive effect when Lu Yan used it before, it was because the Spirit Pill was suitable for mid-stage Qi Cultivation, and Lu Yan was in the early stage, so the effect was naturally strong.
To truly assist in cultivation, using one Spirit Pill every three days would amount to seventy Spirit Stones a month, a price that even eighty percent of sect disciples might not bear.
And for the Spirit-Storage Pill, which can only assist in breaking through the mid-stage Qi Cultivation bottleneck, requiring one hundred and eighty Spirit Stones— the accumulated wealth of those mid-stage Loose Cultivators Lu Yan killed didn’t even reach that.
Although Spirit Pills were expensive, Lu Yan still decided to purchase five bottles, totaling twenty-five Jade Spirit Pills, and one Spirit-Storage Pill in one go.
Besides that, he also bought a bottle of Beauty Pill and a bottle of Rejuvenation Pill.
The former is a weakened version of a second-grade beauty-maintaining pill, most favored by female cultivators in the Qi Cultivation realm.
The Rejuvenation Pill, on the other hand, is a weakened version of the Longevity Pill made by Alchemists. Although it cannot extend one’s lifespan, it can provide vitality to an aging body, creating an illusion of prolonged life.
These two bottles of elixirs were naturally not for Lu Yan’s own use but for the upcoming version update.
The material benefits given by the Apocalypse Version made Lu Yan realize the differences between versions, as Alchemy was a specialty of the Xianxia version; these items might be exchanged for some good things in other versions.
Besides, Lu Yan also intended to buy a batch of Xianxia style Storage Pouches before the version update to fool people from other versions.
Simultaneously, Lu Yan was curious about what these Xianxia version items would transform into in other versions after another update.
The batch of Spirit Pills Lu Yan purchased was worth four hundred Spirit Stones in total, a significant amount which even attracted the Pill Workshop’s shopkeeper to personally serve him.
As a gesture of goodwill, the shopkeeper also gifted Lu Yan a bottle of Qi Blood Pill, valued at ten Spirit Stones.
After leaving the Pill Workshop, Lu Yan immediately departed from this Jade Mountain Marketplace.
Flying dozens of miles away, Lu Yan paused several times, trying to see if there were any Loose Cultivators looking for plunder.
Unfortunately for Lu Yan, the Pill Workshop’s shopkeeper seemed to have truly kept his lips sealed and did not let the news of him, a small early-stage Qi Cultivator, buying a large number of Spirit Pills get out.
Failing to draw out any Loose Cultivators for plundering caused Lu Yan’s plan for vengeance to fall through.
Though disappointed, Lu Yan soon flew towards the Cyan Valley Marketplace.
While the environment of Jade Mountain Marketplace was decent, the quality of Spirit Veins couldn’t match that of the Cyan Valley Marketplace, which was better suited for Lu Yan’s cultivation.
Besides, Lu Yan also intended to gather some more information about the Red Lotus Demon Sect from He Dongsheng.
A half-day later, Lu Yan slowly descended into the Cyan Valley Marketplace.
Upon entering the marketplace, Lu Yan immediately sensed an investigating gaze.
"Do those seven have accomplices?"
A trace of doubt arose in his heart, but on the surface, Lu Yan maintained a calm demeanor as he continued toward the Cave Mansion District.
At that moment, Lu Yan suddenly felt the investigating gaze gradually approach, and in the next moment, a voice tinged with excitement sounded behind him.
"Isn’t this Fellow Daoist Lu?"